People that are involved in physical activities, whether they are for military purposes, sports or recreation purposes, need to drink water during activity. In order to do so, personal liquid containers were developed. Such containers have to be light, durable and flexible so that the athlete, traveler or soldier may carry the container conveniently. Personal containers that are designated for these purposes are know in the art and an example for a flexible container may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,298 “Sport Hydration System” filed in 1983 by Boxer et al. This patent discloses a sport hydration system that includes a flexible liquid container or bag, suspended from the shoulder.
In order to maximize the advantage of a container designated for drinking water or other beverage during activity, it is beneficial that the personal container would have a comfortable means for withdrawing the water from the container. Drinking water during activity may be done using a means for withdrawing water without the compulsion to stop the activity. For example, if a container is installed at the rear of a bicycle or anywhere else, and the bicyclist desires to drink without halting his bicycles, a means for withdrawing the water from the container may enable him to do so. U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,368 “Liquid Dispensing Apparatus for Bicyclists and Skaters” filed by Bekkedahl in 1996 discloses a liquid dispensing apparatus that is installed on a bicycle for use by a person operating the bicycle or a liquid dispensing apparatus installed on a person for use by a person operating inline skates.
One of the main drawbacks of hydration systems to be used during physical activity is the valve installed at the opening of the container. The valve has to be very easy to operate in order to open it during activity and it has to be hermetically closed when the user does riot drink.
Mouthpieces having bite valves that are connected to a hose connected to a container and are used for withdrawing liquids from the container are known in the art. An example for a bite valve to be connected to hydration systems is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,207 “Bite Valve Having a Plurality of Slits” filed in 1997 by Paczonay. This bite valve for delivering liquid to the mouth of an individual includes a hollow body portion and a deformable plug connected to the body portion. A plurality of spaced slits are formed in the deformable plug. A portion of the deformable plug between the slits changes shape when the bite valve is subjected to opposed compressive force. This causes the portion of the deformable plug to open and form a plurality of openings allowing liquid flow through the deformable plug. Another valve is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,767 “Personal Hydration System with an Improved Mouthpiece” filed in 1998 by Gardner et al. The mouthpiece includes a neck that is adapted to be mounted on a supply tube to a hydration system and which is joint to a resilient head. The head includes a dispensing face with a pair of lips that define a normally closed slit, through which fluid is dispensed from the mouthpiece, a perimeter and a minimum dimension between opposed points on the perimeter. The bite region extends from the perimeter to the lip-receiving shoulder, which extends from the bite region to the neck. Another bite valve is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,305 “Bite Valve for Hydration Bladder” filed in 1998 by Hoskins et al. This bite valve includes a deformable sleeve and an elongated valve body that is received within the deformable sleeve.
A main disadvantage of the existing bite-valves is that most of them allow relative low flow rate of liquid to pass through the valve when bitten open. The user has to spend valuable time in sucking liquid from the hydration container in order to drink a significant amount of liquid, on the expense of taking a breath. Another disadvantage of the available bite-valve including the inventions mentioned herein as references is that the user needs to bite the valve quite hard in order to open the plug. After a certain number of bites, the flexible material becomes deformed and the valve becomes leak-prone. The leaking problem exists even when the valve is new and operating well. Another disadvantage lies in the fact that in existing bite-valves the biting zone is not properly defined, and thus biting in portions of the valve that are relatively distant from the opening slot fail to establish efficient flow.
There are known mouthpieces in the art in which internal pistons and like elements were introduced in order to provide a better and leakage-proof mouthpiece. An example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,933 “Valve for a Water Dispenser for Bicyclists” filed in 1996 by Ho et al. The patented valve includes a housing, a resilient member, a slide, a bottom, an O-ring and an inlet connector, wherein the resilient member and the slide are fitted within the housing and the inlet connection is engaged with an outer end of the housing. The button can be pressed by the teeth of a user, so that the internal parts are moved, enabling water to flow through a passage of the inlet connector. Another example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,819,151 “Flexible Valve” filed by Kish in 1972. This valve has a flexible body which when squeezed in one area, moves a plunger to open a line. An additional exampled prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,305 “Bite Valve for Hydration Bladder” filed by Hoskins et al., in 1998. The bite valve for a hydration bladder includes a deformable sleeve and an elongated valve body within the deformable sleeve. Deformation of the sleeve permits fluid flow through an outlet.
Most of the above-mentioned valves are provided with inner parts that either makes the valve cumbersome or do not provide a suffice solution. There is a need to introduce a simple mouthpiece having a bite valve that is leakage proof and in the same time exhibit relatively higher flow rates than the common flow rates that are established using existing mouthpieces.